Grandpa's Overall [Hardcover]

Tony Crunk (Author), Scott Nash (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001 | Age Level: 4 and up

When Grandpa's overalls run off, his family and neighbors try to catch them and then pitch in to do the work that Grandpa cannot do without his pants.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this ebullient tall tale, work clothes take a holiday and let their owner do the same. One morning, Grandpa's denims come alive, with their two top buttons as eyes, their undone suspenders as arms and the bottoms of their stumpy legs like elephant feet. When they "hop down off their nail on the kitchen wall... and sneak away across the back porch," a Gingerbread Man-style chase ensues. Their chest pocket forming a broad smile, the agile overalls bound across a lettuce patch and hide behind a hay bale. Grandpa, clad only in red long johns, shakes his fists and protests that "a man can't work in nothin' but his long-handled drawers." At last, he modestly sits in the smokehouse while his cheerful neighbors do his plowing and weeding. Nash (Over the Moon) styles the farmers as crotchety dogs and smiling puppies. He uses a supple line to draw the galloping overalls, which perform balletic leaps and juggle potatoes like a vaudevillian. Set in a font that resembles handwriting, Crunk's (Big Mama) limber sentences are equally light-footed, his dialogue pitch perfect and twangy (Grandpa, who's "about ready to pop a stitch," yells, "Come back here, you rapscallions!"). Crunk and Nash maintain a zippy momentum as they follow the footloose drawers which end up eloping with Grandma's "long-tailed nightie." Ages 4-7.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-Grandpa's overalls have a mind of their own. Early one morning, they "hop down off their nail on the kitchen wall, slip out the door, and sneak away across the back porch." Grandpa laments, "a man can't work in nothin' but his long-handled drawers." Just like the gingerbread boy, the frisky overalls lead everyone in the family and the neighborhood on a good old-fashioned wild-goose chase. After they disappear from sight, everyone (except for Grandpa) chips in to do the chores. Just when things appear to have simmered down, Grandma sees her nightgown "slipping through the kitchen door and sneaking away across the yard" and once again everyone takes off in hot pursuit. Crunk's folksy text begs to be read aloud. Nash's wacky watercolors are populated by dogs of all sorts (and some other critters that defy classification). In fact, the overalls themselves look positively devilish as they run wild in the chicken coop and ride piggyback across the fields. Young readers will gladly join "Grandma, Grandpa, me, and the rest of us-chasing along behind!"-Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Orchard (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531303217
• ISBN-13: 978-0531303214
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,561,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Really funny..., March 18, 2005

By 

E. R. Bailey "Elizzy" (Brunswick, ME) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grandpa's Overall (Hardcover)

I grew up on a rural farm in an extended family of farmers, and I thought this book was absolutely hilarious. My 6 year old brought it home from the school library (after meeting the illustrator, Scott Nash) and I laughed so hard I went here and bought it.

If you don't mind a book written with a good 'ole southern dialect, this one is for you. (A good line from the book reads, "Grandpa was about ready to pop a stitch. "Never missed a day of work in my life," he said, "and I ain't about to now."")

It was really fun. And we had a good discussion about life on a farm, afterwards. My girls are ages 3 and 6, and they gave it two thumbs up. Educationally, I think it is good as well. It just might help them understand their great aunts and uncles better when we move back to closer to that farm. : )